Fifth Earthquake Rattles Maverick County, Texas on U.S.-Mexico Border
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2021
While Texans were busy attempting to survive the Artic winter storm that caused electricity power outage, food and water shortages, the United States Geological Service (USGS) reported a 3.4 Richter Scale earthquake about 22 miles south of Eagle Pass, Maverick County, Texas at 1:37 a.m. on Thursday, February 18, 2021, the fifth such earthquake in the past four months along the United States-Mexico border.
The USGS reported the 3.4 Richter Scale earthquake approximately about 3.7 miles south-southeast of El Indio, Maverick County, Texas in the early morning at 1:37 a.m. along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Previously, another earthquake rattled the same region with a 3.0 Richter Scale on January 9, 2021, at approximately 9:25 a.m., according to USGS.
Before the January 9, 2021 earthquake in Maverick County, three other tremors were recorded in the same region near El Indio, Texas, one being a 2.9 magnitude earthquake on December 1, 2020, another 3.4 Richter Scale tremor on November 13, 2020, and another 3.0 magnitude tremor on November 4, 2020, according to USGS.
Southern Maverick County has experienced multiple earthquakes in recent months, all in the El Indio, Texas area near the banks of the Rio Grande River.
Maverick County is part of the Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas region that has experienced major fracking activities in the past several years. Furthermore, there are numerous oil and gas fracking water disposal wells located in southern Maverick County near El Indio, Texas.
Although the USGS nor the Railroad Commission of Texas, which grants and regulates oil and gas drilling permits and water disposal wells, have not been able to pinpoint the culprit for this increased earthquake activity on the U.S.-Mexico border, some scientists suspect that the increased earthquake activity may be related to the many oil and gas fracking water disposal wells permitted in the region.
Maverick County citizens, especially those living in the rural community of El Indio, are concerned that a much larger earthquake may rattle the community and cause larger damages than the series of these recent small tremors. Some El Indio residents believe the State of Texas should investigate the source of this increased earthquake activity in Maverick County during recent months.
Other Maverick County residents are concerned that the increased earthquake activity and water disposal wells may contaminate their underground water wells and both the underground and above-ground streams that discharge into the Rio Grande River, which may affect downstream water users who rely on the Rio Grande for their main source of potable water.
